Privacy Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

WVSP Hidden Camera Lawsuits Piling Up

More than 70 women have now reportedly filed, or are preparing to file, suit against the West Virginia State Police because of an admitted hidden camera in the police academy women’s locker room.

More than 70 women have now reportedly filed, or are preparing to file, suit against the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) because of an admitted hidden camera in the police academy women’s locker room.

Twenty-year veteran trooper Talia Divita’s civil suit, filed May 25, 2023, claims she and others were secretly filmed.

Gov. Jim Justice and State Police Interim Superintendent Col. Jack Chambers have both said the camera was placed in the locker room from approximately 2015 to 2020. Chambers is leading an investigation into the incidents.

The suit claims Divita was filmed changing her clothes and showering during 2015, 2016 and 2017.

In the complaint, Divita’s lawsuit claims supervisors knew about the camera and covered it up. The complaint alleges then WVSP Superintendent Jan Cahill was aware that officers destroyed a thumb drive with locker room video evidence and took no disciplinary actions.

The complaint states that Justice Chief of Staff Brian Abraham has said the hidden camera “was not motion sensitive, it continued to run and that individual would, from time to time, replace the recording device and the battery source.”

The suit claims the WVSP actions were “willful and malicious with a reckless and outrageous indifference to the health, safety and welfare of others.”

Divita accuses the agency of sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, gender discrimination, negligence and invasion of privacy.

Divita’s Charleston attorney in the case, John-Mark Atkinson, discussed his client’s level of outrage.

“It’s clearly a gross violation of her privacy,” Atkinson said. “A locker room should be the one place you should be free from worrying about others viewing you in that way. She’s equally as disturbed and outraged by the fact that evidence of such illegal behavior was destroyed by high ranking officials in the State Police.”

Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva was one of the first to file a “notice to sue” the state government entity on behalf of multiple female law enforcement officers. All law enforcement officers, such as local police and sheriff’s deputies, train at the WVSP Academy and use the locker room and shower facilities.

Toriseva now has a reported 67 clients; other attorneys across the state have more clients.

Justice said last week that if there are a “bunch of bad eggs” in the West Virginia State Police, the state should get them identified and held accountable.

“No matter what it takes, get to the very bottom of all of it,” Justice said. “The guilty parties should suffer the consequences. There’s no excuse. These are people that we place our trust in. The guilty party should suffer.”

Justice said he “has faith” in the WVSP’s internal investigation into the hidden camera violations.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting asked the WVSP for an update on the investigation but received no response by the time this story was published.

West Virginians Reminded To Use Caution This Tax Season

Consumers are being warned to be cautious and to protect personal information when preparing and filing their taxes.

With the April 18 tax deadline just over a month away, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is reminding West Virginians to be careful with sensitive data such as Social Security numbers, birth dates and bank accounts. They are at greater risk from scammers.

Individuals should be mindful of how they handle tax information and who processes tax-related documents on their behalf.

If working with a preparer, research them beforehand and ask for their Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and check the IRS list.

When sending or submitting tax-related information, use a secure internet connection, and never file returns via publicly available WiFi.

Taxpayers who file through traditional mail should consider taking the mail to a local post office, as tax identity thieves have been known to steal tax documents from mailboxes.

Consumers can reduce the risk of fraud by filing their return well before the April 18 deadline. This gives thieves less time to file a false return since IRS records would show a filed return in the consumer’s name.

Individuals and households who make $60,000 or less a year can also get free help preparing basic tax returns from the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs.

Consumers who believe they may be the victim of tax-related identity theft should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Office at 800-368-8808, or file a complaint online at www.ago.wv.gov.

ACLU, Citizens Request Lawmakers Work More On Bill For Data-Gathering Fusion Center

This is a developing story and may be updated.

As lawmakers consider a bill to establish the existing West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center in state code, civil liberty advocates are calling on the Legislature to use this as an opportunity to add more privacy and civil liberty protections for West Virginians.

The West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center dates back to 2008, when then-Gov. Joe Manchin signed an executive order authorizing a group to gather and evaluate information on threats of terrorist activity for state and federal agencies, most prominently the Department of Homeland Security.

Since then, the group has existed through executive orders from the governor’s office. By proposing the center to be added to state law through House Bill 4176, some lawmakers have said at previous committee meetings they hope the West Virginia Fusion center will operate under more oversight.

Nationally, fusion centers were established by an executive order from President George W. Bush following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, to investigate potential terroristic threats. Today, fusion centers exist in all 50 states.

Cabinet Secretary Jeff Sandy from the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (DMAPS) spoke highly of fusion centers at a public hearing for House Bill 4176 Thursday morning, hosted by the House Judiciary Committee. Delegates were scheduled to hear and vote on whether to pass the bill to the full House Thursday afternoon after 3 p.m.

DMAPS currently oversees the state fusion center.

“That executive order forming the fusion centers across our country has saved American lives,” Sandy said. “Why? Is it because of the word ‘fusion center’? It is not. It is because fusion centers brought people together.”

Since then, Director Joseph Cohen of the American Civil Liberties Union in West Virginia said the center’s mission has morphed from monitoring terrorist threats to investigating all kinds of crime.

Cohen also attended the public hearing on Thursday. He argued that the Legislature should study the proposal rather than rush into passing a bill that would change state code.

“Slow down, have a real opportunity to bring in the experts on this stuff. If we’re going to have a fusion center, let’s do it right,” Cohen said at the public hearing.

Cohen cited a study in 2012 from a U.S. Senate subcommittee on investigations in which bipartisan group of lawmakers learned fusion centers weren’t yielding significant information for counterterrorism efforts.

After 13 months of reviewing reports from fusion centers that were submitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2010, senators said they “could identify no reporting which uncovered a terrorist threat, nor could it identify a contribution such fusion center reporting made to disrupt an active terrorist plot.”

Robert Cornelius, a recently ousted Wood County Republican Chair, said Thursday he believes the West Virginia Fusion Center is being used to spy on political opponents, himself included.

“I’m a longtime critic of our current governor,” Cornelius told delegates at the public hearing. “As chairman of the Wood County Republican Committee, our group voted unanimously to support his impeachment, of the governor, in June of 2018, citing his refusal to attend work.”

Cornelius said he learned a month after that decision that there were pictures of himself at a security guard shack for the Columbia Gas building in Kanawha City, with a notice to call the fusion center if guards recognized him on the property.

This is what prompted Cornelius to post on Twitter in 2019 about the fusion center. Cornelius said in July he received a file of information regarding himself collected by the fusion center. He said his wife, who works in the state Capitol, was handed the information by the governor’s general counsel, Brian Abraham, even though Cornelius insisted the governor’s office had his contact information.

“There’s a greater issue with internet and electronic surveillance by the current executive,” Cornelius said, referring to the governor. “Of his employees, state employees and citizens more generally. Beyond concerns with fusion [centers], I would encourage those interested in our civil rights to examine the current and former roles of employees, the governor’s senior staff, and the scope of duties and activities.”

Fusion center officials disputed claims from Cornelius Thursday morning. That included DMAPS Cabinet Secretary Sandy and his deputy secretary Thom Kirk, who has experience direction the West Virginia fusion center.

“One of the things that we do at the fusion center is, any information that comes in there is vetted, to see whether it’s factual or not,” Kirk said. “I can tell you that if that is what Mr. Cornelius said, that’s false. I can bet that right now. He, to my knowledge, has never been investigated by the West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center.”

Earlier this year, the governor requested an additional $1.9 million from the Legislature to fund a Narcotics Intelligence unit that would operate under the state fusion center, as well.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Gubernatorial Candidate Furious Over Privacy Breach

A Bluefield auto dealership owned by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole has asked Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office to investigate a state agency’s recent release of the names, salaries and social security numbers of more than 200 employees who work for Cole.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the state Division of Labor’s released the employees’ confidential information last month, in response to a request from the newspaper for a story about wage complaints filed against businesses owned by candidates for governor in West Virginia.

Cole Automotive Group General Manager Ralph Vines says the agency was reckless to have released the information.

Governor’s office spokeswoman Diane Holley-Brown says state officials have apologized to Cole.

The labor division has also reported the incident to the State Privacy Office and Bureau of Risk and Insurance Management.

State Board of Education Acts to Maintain Student Privacy

The West Virginia Board of Education is pledging not to share students’ personal information with anyone outside the system.

     The move was codified with a resolution passed at the board’s regular meeting this week and will eventually become policy.

     The Charleston Daily Mail reports that the action was taken in large part to appease those are concerned with West Virginia’s adoption of the national Common Core standards for education.

     Opponents worry that data about students that is collected by the school system will at some point in the accountability or testing process be leaked to outside parties.

     The resolution says that it is board policy not to release information to any entity except in a format where the data cannot be traced back to a specific student.